NCL Escape - Help Me Choose

[Cras108er]

We need help! We're planning to book a cruise on the Escape. We have the choice between a Larger Balcony on deck 8 (near the Waterfront) or an Aft Balcony.

 

One would be more "near the action, the other is... an Aft Cabin (need I say more)?

 

Which would you take (and why)? The Aft Cabin is about $100 more pp, and we do not have any mobility problems. Thanks in advance.

[Kfamilycruise]

There are so many great reasons for both.

 

For Deck 8 -- near the action, you can stumble back to your room easily and easy to get in and out to go to activities -- only con is if you are right by bars and restaurants so can be loud

 

For Aft -- depends on what deck

 

The view from the back is awesome. So quiet. Only cons is the huge walk to the room and to go to activities. Can be loud if on balcony right under by Spice H2O, but once inside, you can't hear anything.

[Jim The Lizard]

Aft balcony. I like being away from the noise and bustle, and do like the aft elevators more than the forward (seem to be less busy than the front ones). We have another aft balcony in February 2018, three straight Escape cruises with aft or rear balconies. So, I am biased. And, we've gotten Vibe our previous Escape cruises, so we go the furthest distance from room to front of ship. But, we leave our room by 8 am everyday and hang in Vibe till 4 on sea days and Nassau.

 

 

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[BirdTravels]

The large balcony is ok if you are just sitting outside. It is large. It sticks out for all above to see. You WILL be immortalized on YouTube for almost anything you do.

[Cras108er]

The large balcony is ok if you are just sitting outside. It is large. It sticks out for all above to see. You WILL be immortalized on YouTube for almost anything you do.

 

What do you think I'll be doing Bird? 😉

[Cruisermom2nick]

We need help! We're planning to book a cruise on the Escape. We have the choice between a Larger Balcony on deck 8 (near the Waterfront) or an Aft Balcony.

 

One would be more "near the action, the other is... an Aft Cabin (need I say more)?

 

Which would you take (and why)? The Aft Cabin is about $100 more pp, and we do not have any mobility problems. Thanks in advance.

 

We LOVED our large balcony on deck 8 on the sister ship the Getaway! It was close to many bars and all the dining and activities on deck 6-7-8. :)

[Cras108er]

Aft balcony. I like being away from the noise and bustle, and do like the aft elevators more than the forward (seem to be less busy than the front ones). We have another aft balcony in February 2018, three straight Escape cruises with aft or rear balconies. So, I am biased. And, we've gotten Vibe our previous Escape cruises, so we go the furthest distance from room to front of ship. But, we leave our room by 8 am everyday and hang in Vibe till 4 on sea days and Nassau.

 

 

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On such a large ship, is it a long walk to all the activities?

[Jim The Lizard]

On such a large ship, is it a long walk to all the activities?

 

 

No. We've stayed in 12304 and 12908. We walk to aft elevators, go up to Garden Buffet entrance. Walk out of Buffet, in PoolDeck. Walk through pool deck to Vibe (2 staircases up). Elevators are right there forward to bring you down to OSheehans or atrium. Escape is a big ship, but most activities are " in the middle", with balcony rooms extending well past common activity hubs. I have a bum hip, and the walk doesn't bother me at all. And, again, I like that our rooms have been away from activities and even other cruisers. Less noise, quiet when we're in the room. 12304 actually is a regular balcony that has room for a lounger, two chairs, and a table (last room on the port side of ship).

 

 

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[Cras108er]

No. We've stayed in 12304 and 12908. We walk to aft elevators, go up to Garden Buffet entrance. Walk out of Buffet, in PoolDeck. Walk through pool deck to Vibe (2 staircases up). Elevators are right there forward to bring you down to OSheehans or atrium. Escape is a big ship, but most activities are " in the middle", with balcony rooms extending well past common activity hubs. I have a bum hip, and the walk doesn't bother me at all. And, again, I like that our rooms have been away from activities and even other cruisers. Less noise, quiet when we're in the room. 12304 actually is a regular balcony that has room for a lounger, two chairs, and a table (last room on the port side of ship).

 

 

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Sorry for all the questions. As you posted, I was just studying the deck plans. How did you find the difference between the two cabins. I see one is a true aft, and the other was the last cabin (both butting up against a suite). Funny thing is a friend just booked 12908.

 

The website is offering me 14908, but I hear those balconies are smaller. You know anything about that? Would I need to be. concerned about noise from the common areas above?

 

I REALLY appreciate all the inside info!

[kayjay76]

We didn't have an aft balcony but we were in the aft of the ship, near the end. For us, this was the idea location. We were right near elevators that led us to the spots we spent the most time at.... buffet, casino, H2o. We didn't spend any time at the pool as was too crowded so we spent all sea days at H20. I remember thinking TY God I only have to hop on the elevator and go down a couple floors to grab things I forgot. If we were on the other end of the ship it would not have been good.

 

Best advice is ask yourself where will you spend the most time at? The bars, and specialty resturants, the pool? If yes than go with front.

 

If you like the buffet, casino, H20 then go with aft. I can't remember exactly, but I think the main dining room and Cagneys is also near aft.

[rehm]

We are on the escape this coming Saturday and just got our upgrade bid accepted from an aft balcony to the 8 deck mini suite with large balcony.

 

At first I wasn't happy because of where it was located but then I read some reviews and you have to go through 3 doors to get to the cabins so noise really shouldn't be an issue.

 

As for being on YouTube..... Bring it on.

 

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[carsonbeeching]

I saw a review about the large balconies on deck 8. They are large but everyone above you can view most of your balcony. That's seven decks of people that can give you the fish bowl treatment. Other than that they look great and after staying on the escape I wouldn't mind a room on deck 8.

 

 

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[Jim The Lizard]

Sorry for all the questions. As you posted, I was just studying the deck plans. How did you find the difference between the two cabins. I see one is a true aft, and the other was the last cabin (both butting up against a suite). Funny thing is a friend just booked 12908.

 

 

 

The website is offering me 14908, but I hear those balconies are smaller. You know anything about that? Would I need to be. concerned about noise from the common areas above?

 

 

 

I REALLY appreciate all the inside info!

 

 

Completely lucked out with 12304, had no idea till we walked in the room that the balcony was that big. I like deck 12 because it's not directly under Spice H2O and buffet; a couple of floors to buffer you!. As you go higher with aft balconies, some of them do decrease in size, but there are some floors that does not hold true. I know deck 9 has really big aft balconies, and believe it or not, I thought I read deck 14 aft is really large also. You should be able to call NCL and book the room you want directly, or have your TA place you. But, you'd have to research on Cruise Critic about floors and individual rooms. I don't want to give you erroneous info. I've been on the ship twice, this will be our last Escape Cruise; will hit up some other NCL ships after this one!

 

 

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[ccm02339]

I never see this mentioned so here goes:

We had aft balcony on Getaway last year July 4th week. Western Carribean itinerary

Loved the balcony size and view but was total sun and no breeze whatsoever!! We were hoping to hang late afternoons with our teens as the space certainly would allow but could only enjoy much later at night when finally cooler. YMMV

[Sand and Seas]

Sorry for all the questions. As you posted, I was just studying the deck plans. How did you find the difference between the two cabins. I see one is a true aft, and the other was the last cabin (both butting up against a suite). Funny thing is a friend just booked 12908.

 

The website is offering me 14908, but I hear those balconies are smaller. You know anything about that? Would I need to be. concerned about noise from the common areas above?

 

I REALLY appreciate all the inside info!

 

I had done some research reading peoples reviews about their cabins and just found my notes on some of them. Aft cabin 14904 on the Escape said they had two loungers and 2 chairs. Sounded like a great balcony to me.

[Bellyflopchamp]

Aren't the deck 8 larger balconies actually a mini suite with large balcony or are you looking for one of the angled balconies? I was looking into this for my upcoming cruise on the Breakaway. I picked an Aft balcony. On the Escape I would probably go with the Mini Suite with large balcony on deck 8 mainly for the larger bathroom and its close proximity to the District Brew House (not on the BA) as I can see myself going there frequently for a few beers. It would be nice to be close enough to grab one and go back and enjoy on the balcony. I would suggest you look around at the floor plans and figure out where you might frequent the most and use that to decide which to pick.

[UFLaw]

Me and my family were just in an aft balcony April 15-22. You can see some additional photos from our deck on the live review I did. I really liked the aft balcony. The additional room on the balcony was amazing. We had breakfast and family over frequently.

 

The walk to the elevators and everything is just relative. This ship is huge so really you have to walk places regardless.

 

 

 

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[Jim The Lizard]

Me and my family were just in an aft balcony April 15-22. You can see some additional photos from our deck on the live review I did. I really liked the aft balcony. The additional room on the balcony was amazing. We had breakfast and family over frequently.

 

The walk to the elevators and everything is just relative. This ship is huge so really you have to walk places regardless.

 

 

 

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Loved your review, saw you were on 12. People asked you your room number a few times, never saw a response. We're in 12908 this February. Any issues with noise?

 

 

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[UFLaw]

I must have missed that. We were in 12912. It was a handicap accessible room that we got moved into when they freed them up about 2 weeks out. If another passenger needed the room we would have gotten bounced. As for noise, there was very little at all. Some from Spice H2O but the door keeps all the noise out.

 

 

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[Cras108er]

I must have missed that. We were in 12912. It was a handicap accessible room that we got moved into when they freed them up about 2 weeks out. If another passenger needed the room we would have gotten bounced. As for noise, there was very little at all. Some from Spice H2O but the door keeps all the noise out.

 

 

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Where can I find your review. I looked through. Number of reviews from the April 2017 sailings. How do I know which one was yours? Thx

[UFLaw]

Where can I find your review. I looked through. Number of reviews from the April 2017 sailings. How do I know which one was yours? Thx

 

Here you go...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2485586

 

I was doing this live as we were travelling. I am working on a full review this week.

[Jim The Lizard]

I must have missed that. We were in 12912. It was a handicap accessible room that we got moved into when they freed them up about 2 weeks out. If another passenger needed the room we would have gotten bounced. As for noise, there was very little at all. Some from Spice H2O but the door keeps all the noise out.

 

 

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Thx!. I enjoyed your review, you guys look like you made the most of the ship. Did you spend a lot of time in Vibe?

 

 

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[UFLaw]

Thx!. I enjoyed your review, you guys look like you made the most of the ship. Did you spend a lot of time in Vibe?

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I have to be honest, we really didn't spend as much time as I thought we would. It was a really nice spot to hang out, but with the 7 kids we had and all the things we did, we definitely did not use it a much as we thought. Would I still do it? Not sure. I may have instead spent more time on deck 8 relaxing. However, my BIL and SIL definitely used it more than we did.

[jolgro]

 

Loved our Deck 8 large balcony mini suite on the Escape !

And close to almost everything. No noise at all.

 

 

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[Jim The Lizard]

I have to be honest, we really didn't spend as much time as I thought we would. It was a really nice spot to hang out, but with the 7 kids we had and all the things we did, we definitely did not use it a much as we thought. Would I still do it? Not sure. I may have instead spent more time on deck 8 relaxing. However, my BIL and SIL definitely used it more than we did.

 

 

Thought you didn't from all your pics and family events. My wife and I laugh that we couldn't bring our only daughter (14) with us because we couldn't do Vibe!. You made the right choice with family first!. Great review, thx for all the responses.

 

 

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